AN EARLY LOOK AT THE WEEK AHEAD: This afternoon, we’ll hear more about the Pentagon’s Quadrennial Defense Review when Christine Wormuth, nominated to become DoD’s next policy chief, speaks at CSIS. The QDR was released last week and received mixed reviews — pretty par for the course when it comes to QDRs. This evening, the Senate is expected to vote on a bill from Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) that would give victims of sexual assault a say in whether their case is tried in a civilian or military court, among other measures. It is expected to pass.

On Tuesday, all eyes will be on the Senate Armed Services Committee as it holds a confirmation hearing for Vice Adm. Mike Rogers, nominated to lead U.S. Cyber Command and the NSA.

And on Wednesday, SASC will once again be in the spotlight, this time the issue is Afghanistan and the testimony is from Marine Gen. Joe Dunford, the top U.S. commander there. Competing for attention that morning will be a Navy budget briefing held by the House Armed Services Committee.

But both briefings could be overshadowed by Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk’s visit to the White House. POLITICO’s Lucy McCalmont has more. http://politi.co/1h5kjCH

And that gets us through Wednesday. All in all, a pretty busy week.

QUESTIONS ABOUT THE BUDGET GROW: As Morning D reported last week, the Pentagon’s budget rollout has been a confusing affair. That’s because the fiscal 2015 budget, and the five-year spending plan that goes with it, plan for spending cuts while also trying to appeal to Congress for more money to avoid them.

Defense officials say they want to, but budget documents tell a different story.

— THE STRANGEST MOMENT FROM LAST WEEK? For Defense News’ Marcus Weisgerber, it was when Maj. Gen. Jim Martin, the US Air Force budget director, announced Tuesday the Air Force was, in fact, funding the Combat Rescue Helicopter. He’d apparently found out right before the briefing began when his aide slipped him a note.

“It was an unprecedented break from the time-tested and thoroughly regimented briefings of the past. Decisions about funding or not funding multibillion-dollar procurement programs are typically finalized well in advance of such an important briefing,” Weisgerber writes. http://goo.gl/J8W8yi

UKRAINE ROUNDUP: Ukraine and Russia’s actions in Crimea, will continue to be a focus this week. Over the weekend, President Barack Obama discussed the situation by phone with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Meanwhile, Germany's Angela Merkel told Russian President Vladimir Putin that a planned referendum on whether Crimea should join Russia was illegal and violated Ukraine's constitution, Reuters’ Andrew Osborn reports. http://reut.rs/Ocg4Na

— Meanwhile, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey said there is a chance the situation escalates into a military conflict.

In an interview Friday, PBS Newshour’s Judy Woodruff asked him whether the U.S. is prepared for that.

“Well, that’s a question that I think deserves to be assessed and reassessed and refreshed as this thing evolves,” Dempsey said. “But, remember, we do have treaty obligations with our NATO allies. And I have assured them that, if that treaty obligation is triggered, we would respond.” http://to.pbs.org/1kGXGu7

— GATES SAYS CRIMEA IS ‘GONE’: Yesterday, former Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he believes Russia will continue to control Crimea for the foreseeable future ( http://politi.co/1feOI3R), but says attacks on President Barack Obama’s handling of the Ukraine situation have been misguided ( http://politi.co/1feReXD), POLITICO’s Kevin Robillard reports.

“The Olympics was his multi-billion-ruble reassertion of Russian power on the level of pop culture; the invasion of Crimea is a reassertion of Russian power in the harsher currency of arms and intimidation,” he writes.

HAGEL PLANNING APRIL VISIT TO ASIA: Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is planning to visit Japan in April to discuss security issues with his Japanese counterpart, Itsunori Onodera, Kyodo News International reports. http://goo.gl/MWrXlu

His trip could also take him to China and South Korea, according to the report.

— Meanwhile, Japan is getting worried that the U.S. won’t take a tough enough stance against China when it comes to ‘grey zone’ military threats, Reuters reports. http://reut.rs/NQu4MX

NAVY HELPS IN SEARCH FOR JET THAT MYSTERIOUSLY DISAPPEARED AFTER IT LEFT MALAYSIA: The Navy said Saturday the USS Pinckney, a guided-missile destroyer, was headed toward the southern coast of Vietnam to help look for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

“The ship could be in vicinity of the missing jet within 24 hours and carries two MH-60R helicopters which can be equipped for search and rescue,” the Navy said.

The Beijing-bound plane, and its 239 passengers and crew, went missing Saturday without a trace.

WELCOME, MARJORIE: Today the POLITICO Pro Defense team welcomes Marjorie Censer as its new editor. We’re happy to have you on board. To wish her good luck and send her tips for where to get lunch in Rosslyn, email her at mcenser@politico.com and follow on Twitter at @CommonCenser.

DON’T BE SURPRISED IF YOU SEE ROSCOE BARTLETT ON THE HILL, reports POLITICO’s Austin Wright: “Former Maryland Rep. Roscoe Bartlett has ventured out of his doomsday-proof West Virginia hideaway to lobby his old colleagues on Navy biofuels and other issues.” http://politico.pro/1fM5NmL

RETURNING TO BAGHDAD — ONE REPORTER GOES BACK: The Financial Times’ Christine Spolar, who reported on the Iraq war 10 years ago, returns to Baghdad to find her friends and colleagues living in fear as the city is consumed by violence. One example: her former driver, now a security analyst, tells her that he’s applied for a new, safer assignment in … Syria. http://on.ft.com/1oDY0XB

— Meanwhile, a suicide bomber killed 45 people on Sunday in the Southern Iraq city of Hilla. http://nyti.ms/1gcKolB

FROM FRIDAY’S PRESSER WITH KIRBY: Before folks took off for the weekend, Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby met with reporters. Some highlights:

Hagel is going to wait until next year before asking Congress to make fundamental changes to the current military retirement system, reports Military Times’ Andrew Tilghman. Details of DoD’s proposals were reported last week, but Kirby said none of these should be considered a formal recommendation. http://goo.gl/TU7hSU

HOW TO SAVE THE U.S. — TAKE A CUE FROM THE MILITARY: The United States would be greatly improved if it followed the example of its military, writes Simon Kuper for the Financial Times. http://on.ft.com/1cNnXia

“Life in the US military is much like life in Sweden (unless you’re off in Afghanistan spreading democracy),” he writes. “The officers in my seminars spent a quarter of their careers in education, because the U.S. military believes in life-long learning. The military also provides socialised healthcare, subsidised childcare, early pensions etc. I’ve never seen a socialist paradise like it, and I grew up in the Netherlands in the 1970s.”

BOOK REVIEW — DEXTER FILKINS’ TAKE ON ‘REDEPLOYMENT’: The new book by Phil Klay, a former Marine who served in Iraq, “is hilarious, biting, whipsawing and sad. It’s the best thing written so far on what the war did to people’s souls,” Filkins writes in this review for The New York Times. http://nyti.ms/1nbNcVh

SPEED READ

— Afghan Vice President Muhammad Qasim Fahim died Sunday of a heart attack. The New York Times: http://nyti.ms/1fixfmr

— The war in the Central African Republic is explained through the journey of a Muslim baby girl. The Washington Post: http://wapo.st/OalQyX

— The South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas, tackles the issues of privacy, national security and the Internet with a remote appearance from Wikileaks founder Julian Assange on Saturday, and one from Edward Snowden later today. Defense One: http://goo.gl/Dh7N4Y

— Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert says he has no plans to shrink the ranks of the Navy. Navy Times: http://goo.gl/EyWmZU

— A new report from Save the Children details just how devastating the war in Syria has been on its children. The New York Times: http://nyti.ms/1nzncA1

— Two major U.S. law firms said last week that they are starting drone practice groups. The Washington Post: http://wapo.st/ObmhZL

— Hagel has discussed whether the Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force should follow the Army’s lead and recheck the records of its sexual assault counselors. USA Today: http://usat.ly/1fgUBgP

Authors:

About The Author

Kate Brannen is a defense reporter for POLITICO Pro.

Before coming to POLITICO, Brannen covered congress for Defense News, providing regular coverage of the budget debate on Capitol Hill and its implications for national security. Previously, she spent three years covering the U.S. Army — first as a reporter for InsideDefense.com, then as the land warfare correspondent for Defense News.

Brannen graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, with a bachelor's degree in history. She has received graduate degrees from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism and School of International and Public Affairs.